


close enough to touch, but miles of distance

by MarbledOpalescence



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: (the happy ending is coming), Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Heist fic, Juno and Peter need to get their act together, Other, minor depictions of violence and injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-06 09:15:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21224186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarbledOpalescence/pseuds/MarbledOpalescence
Summary: Peter wants and Juno tries, but Peter has never been very good at talking about his feelings.





	1. "I thought you didn't want me."

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ADreamIsASoftPlaceToLand](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ADreamIsASoftPlaceToLand/gifts).

> From a list of prompts on tumblr, written for the lovely [ADreamIsASoftPlaceToLand](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ADreamIsASoftPlaceToLand/pseuds/ADreamIsASoftPlaceToLand)!  
(Fair warning this first chapter _is_ sad)

It happens on a heist.

~~

Buddy has put Juno in full view, with instructions to sparkle and shine and attract attention. While all eyes are on him, Peter is free to pull his half of the job: finding a way to get into the office of one Dax Deveraux, get an uplink established so Rita can hack into the computer databases remotely, and get out again, all without being noticed.

~~

Juno is startled that Buddy would put him as the center of attention; Peter can read it in his face. The former detective still thinks of himself as unattractive, not knowing how the smile shines on his face like a sun, not knowing his own allure, strong shoulders and muscles wrapped in the silk of the dress Buddy has picked out for him. But even without the dress, Juno is still the most beautiful lady Peter has ever seen, and-

Stop. Fold that thought up, file it away for future consideration.

Juno is suitable for the job, whatever he may think. Buddy wouldn’t have picked him for it otherwise.

Peter tells him as much as the rest of the crew files out of the room after the meeting. Juno looks up at him, startled, a question on his lips, but Peter is gone. His heart in his throat, Peter leaves Juno waiting in the doorway. He has his own preparations to attend to.

~~

Peter glides through the crowd unnoticed, once again in his element. Here, he is in control. Here, he knows exactly what is expected of him, how to move and act to blend in. His half of the heist has gone off smoothly without an issue. Now all that’s left is to retrieve Juno and get to the doors, where Jet and Vespa have arranged to meet them with the car.

Peter spots Juno halfway across the room, a sparkling dream in silver and rose. He has managed to gather a small crowd of at least twelve would-be suitors; Peter can read their intentions from here. Juno is flirting with one of them while he watched, the poor fool entranced by Juno’s smile and the way he moves his hands while he talks. Peter knows how they feel. Before he knows what he’s doing, before he can think to file that thought away, Peter starts moving, cutting a path through the crowd.

He comes up behind Juno, sliding his arm through Juno’s, and smiles knife sharp at the crowd.

“Come darling,” he murmurs into Juno’s ear, loud enough for the poor fools surrounding them to hear, “Your mother is expecting us at dinner, and we can’t let her down.”

He feels Juno shiver under his touch, but he plays along well, leaning into Peter carelessly, as if it is just a casual touch, one of a thousand similar times.

“You’re always so punctual, dear,” he murmurs back, matching Peter’s tone, then addresses the crowd, “I’m sorry dolls, but I have to go now. It’s been a splendid evening, but my time here is up.”

They extract themselves from the group to a chorus of disappointment, and Peter leads them briskly to the door. They make it to the rendezvous point slightly early, so Peter goes to stand on the balcony, looking out and away over the palatial landscaping. His heart is still pounding from Juno’s proximity, so he takes a deep breath to get himself under control again and freezes at the rustle of Juno’s dress as he comes to stand beside him.

“What was that about, Ransom?”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”

“Like hell you don’t.”

Juno’s voice is still calm, the swear slipping out more as a matter of habit than anything. Peter turns to face him and immediately regrets it. Juno is looking at him, his eye clear and open, the light from the planet overhead illuminating him softly. The silver of the dress catches and sparkles in that light, turning Juno into something else entirely, some being made of moonbeams and starlight and altogether too lovely to be standing here with Peter.

Peter suddenly realizes that Juno hadn’t stopped talking.

“-wasn’t the plan and you know it. You were supposed to have Rita tell me when you were done, and then I’d extract myself. You didn’t have to-”

“I didn’t like the way they looked at you.”

That did stop him. Juno is looking at him again, and Peter looks away, unable to handle the directness of that gaze.

“What do you mean?”

Juno’s voice is soft, and Peter winces at the tenderness it implies.

“They were...hungry, I suppose. Like you were just something for their consumption. They looked at you like they wanted you.” Like I look at you.

“Yeah, kind of thought that was the idea, Ransom. I was there to be the fakeout, right? Everyone’s eyes on me while you slipped in the back. So what’s the problem?”

The problem is that they get to look at you like that, when I can’t, they get the chance to bask in your glow when I have to watch from the shadows, when I- No. Peter shied away from that thought. Fold it up, file it away for future consideration.

“Peter…”

Peter closes his eyes. That name on Juno’s lips hurts worse than being stabbed.

“Why do you care how other people look at me? I thought you didn’t want me.”

“I don’t.”

“Then why-”

“Because you were making a fool out of yourself,” he snaps, and immediately regrets it. Juno’s eye gets cold and he steps back a bit.

“Oh.”

His voice is cold too, and stabs right through Peter. Anything else they could have said is lost, though, as the Ruby 7 pulls up to the balcony in front of them. The door is thrown open and Vespa leans out.

“Get in,” she orders, and Peter moves quickly to obey, grateful for the chance to escape. He looks out the window as they pull away from the Devereaux estate, not meeting anyone’s eyes. He can feel Juno looking at him, but the lady doesn’t say a word.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gets lectured. He still doesn't talk to Juno.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is taking longer than I expected to resolve, so here is a part two. It doesn't wrap a whole lot up, but it sets some stuff into motion for the next chapter!

Try as he might, Peter can’t get that night out of his head. He keeps going over it, again and again, lying awake and staring at the ceiling, all the while intensely aware of how close Juno is, wondering how Juno would react if Peter knocked on his door.

He never does.

Juno has been more distant too. Never anything too obvious, but Peter notices. (Peter always notices Juno, no matter how much he wishes he could stop.) He’s stopped _looking_ at

Peter. Oh, Juno still looks at him, but it’s different. He’s stopped following Peter with his eyes when he walks, watching him when he thinks Peter isn’t looking.  


So instead, Peter watches him. Watches him interact with the rest of the crew, how he jokes and talks with all of them, even Vespa, now. Peter watches him and aches, because Juno shines and Peter can’t be a part of that.

~~

Buddy notices the shift. Of course she does.

~~

“Peter.”

Peter is leaning against the back wall in the common room watching as Rita is somehow managing to beat the rest of the crew soundly at a card game when Buddy comes and leans next to him.

“Captain Aurinko.”

“No need to be so formal, darling.”

“Buddy, then.”

She nods, and he waits for her to say something. She doesn’t.

“...did you have something you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Yes.”

Peter waits again, but still nothing. He opens his mouth to speak again and as soon as he does, she starts talking.

“Juno seems to be doing better, don’t you think? I’m not sure how much you’ve talked about what happened in the time since you’ve seen each other,” she gives Peter a pointed look and he gulps, “But he came to me several months before he joined us on the Carte Blanche in a very bad place. I don’t know if you’ve heard of the Theia line of physical augmentation products, but Juno had found himself outfitted with a Theia Spectrum. Removing that kind of product involves a deep introspection; a person can’t come out of that kind of experience unchanged.”

She sighs and pats him on the arm.

“Just think about it darling, would you?”

Buddy moves away, leaving Peter to his swirling thoughts. A Theia Spectrum...having that kind of thing wired into your brain, tapping directly into your core like that. Peter shudders. The thought of Juno going through that makes him sick to his stomach. It’s his fault Juno needed a new eye after all… He stops himself and files that thought away for future consideration. If he thinks about it now, he’s not sure he won’t break apart completely.

Still....To have gone through all of that and still be smiling as he jokes with the rest of the crew while Rita beats them all once again… Peter is once again in awe of how strong the former detective really is. Juno glances up and catches him looking. Peter flushes and quickly looks away.

~~

Rita is the next one to corner him after that. Peter is sitting in his room, staring at the wall and trying desperately not to think about Juno when he hears a knock on his door. He opens it and sees the small colorful form of Rita, her arms full of a bulky floral bag.

“Can I come in?”

“But of course, Miss Rita,” he says, swallowing down any misgivings and graciously gesturing her in.

She bustles inside and starts setting out at least two dozen colors of nail polish, chattering all the while. He follows and watches, transfixed, as his desk is quickly turned into a nail salon.

“Come on, Mistah Peter, sit down. I have somthin’ I want to talk to you about, and it’ll be nicer if we get your nails painted too.”

So he sits. Rita mutters to herself for a second before grabbing some colors (blue and gold and red) and setting to work. He waits for her to say something, but the normally extremely boisterous woman seems subdued. She finishes the first coat on his left hand, then starts in on his right.

“Mistah Steel’s been getting better. You know that, right?”

The question takes him by surprise and he pauses a moment before answering.

“Yes, Rita, I think I do.”

“Good. Because he’s had a rough year, and I still don’t know the whole of it, but me and him were what stopped the Theia Souls when they were taking over Oldtown a few months ago. I don’t know what Mistah Steel told you and I don’t want to go tellin’ his business if he ain’t ready to share it, but.” She pauses for a breath. “The whole thing was started by Ramses O’Flaherty who was a very very bad man, but Mistah Steel believed in him and thought he was goin’ to make things better in Hyperion City. Turns out his way of making things better was turnin’ everyone into creepy cyborgs, Mistah Steel included, but we took care of things.”

She pauses again, looking up at Peter, but he doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t know what he could say.

“Mistah Steel is doin’ better than I’ve ever seen, Mistah Peter. So if he’s tryin’ to make things better with you two, maybe listen?”

Peter laughs shakily.

“I’m afraid it might be a little late for that.”

“I’m not so sure about that, but even if it is, apologizin’ is better than not apologizin’.”

She stands up and sweeps everything back into her arms.

“Let those dry for another fifteen minutes before you try doin’ anythin’, okay? And...Good luck.”

“Okay Rita,” he says softly, and she nods briskly before turning on her heel and walking out, leaving Peter alone with his thoughts and his freshly painted nails.

~~

They come back from another heist. Peter is the bait this time and he plays his part perfectly, but he feels distant from the whole affair. Normally he puts his all into seducing the target, making sure that their attention is focused wholly on him, but this time. He isn’t distracted, oh no, just. Distant. He feels more keenly than ever how much of a facade each of his aliases was, layers upon layers of deceit and contrivance until he isn’t even sure what was underneath it all.

(Peter Nureyev used to be underneath it all.) (But Peter Nureyev had died alone in a hotel room.)

He still doesn’t talk to Juno.

~~

They have another job, and Peter is reckless.

Buddy placed him in the room as surveillance, but he watches their mark slip out the back. Not the door that they had been expecting him to leave through, where Juno had been stationed, ready to intercept. No one else is close enough to do anything, so Peter follows. He ignores Buddy’s hissed orders, silencing his comms, and slips through the door and after the man they’d been targeting. Peter walks quietly down the dark hallway, all senses alert. He hears the soft thud of a door closing ahead of him and moves quickly towards the sound. A sliver of light is peeking out from under the door, and Peter can hear voices, so he carefully slips up to the door and puts his ear against it, trying to hear what’s being said.

He feels the muzzle of a gun press into his back and freezes.

“And what the hell are you doing here?”

Ah.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do apologise for the cliffhanger, but this seemed like a good place to pause for a chapter! I will do my best to get the next part up as soon as possible. Thank you again for reading <3  
(I'm [marbledopalescence](https://marbledopalescence.tumblr.com/) if you want to come yell at me for leaving you like this)  



	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juno has to save a fool from his own mistakes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Juno's pov this time! How will our favorite lady react to Peter's dumbassery? 
> 
> (This chapter does contain violence and someone gets injured, but I don't describe either in detail.)

Juno peers through the doorway into the ballroom. 

“Buddy, do we have eyes on the guy?”

“Peter’s watching him, darling, just sit tight. He should be headed your way any minute.”

He settles back against the door, breathing slowly to try and calm his nerves. Something doesn’t feel right about this situation, but he can’t place a finger on it so he just has to wait and trust Peter.

That trust turns out to be misplaced a moment later when he hears Buddy cursing over the comms.

“Damn! The mark went out the wrong door and Peter followed him. He’s silenced his comms too and isn’t listening to me! It’s too dark in that corridor, Rita can’t get a read on him. Darling-”

“Got it.”

Juno slips into the ballroom and starts shouldering his way through the crowd, his dark suit standing out against the dazzling displays of color all around him. Buddy guides him to the door Peter went through and Juno slips through it, letting it slide softly into place behind him. He takes a moment to let his eyes adjust- purposefully NOT thinking about how useful night vision would be, he doesn’t need that kind of crutch- and hears voices up ahead.

He starts walking slowly, oh so slowly, down the hallway, blaster at the ready. As he gets closer he recognizes Peter as one of the voices. It’s pitched upwards and the cadence is off, but it definitely is him. Finally Juno gets close enough to see them, silhouetted against the dark by a little bit of light pouring out from under a closed door. Peter is standing with his arms raised, a gun being pressed into his back by someone Juno can’t quite make out.

He raises his arm and takes a breath to steady himself. One shot, that’s all he’s got. He takes aim and fires, and the person standing behind Peter drops without a sound. Juno almost sags with relief, then rushes over to check that Peter is alright.

“Are you okay?”

“I am perfectly fine, Juno,” Peter says brusquely, shaking Juno’s hand off his arm.

“What the hell were you thinking, Ransom?” he hisses quietly.

“I had everything under control.”

“Oh, like _hell_ you did-” Juno starts to say angrily, but is cut off by Buddy’s voice over his comms.

“Sorry to interrupt, darlings, but our time here is up. Peter’s little escapade hasn’t gone unnoticed, and you’re about to have visitors.”

Juno swears under his breath and grabs Peter’s arm again.

“Let’s go Ransom, Buddy says our time is up.”

“We can still get the mark, just let me-”

“No! We must have gotten some bad intel, because this is WAY off what we were expecting, and you deciding to go lone wolf didn’t exactly help-”

Juno is cut off by a door bursting open at the other end of the hallway.

“Shit! Okay, Ransom, we’ve got to go. _Now_.”

Juno grabs his arm and runs back down the hallway, and hears shouts and pounding footsteps as their pursuers start to follow them. They burst out through the door into the ballroom and start shoving their way through.

“Buddy, I’m going to need a way out!”

“Just a moment, darling, Rita is pulling up the blueprints right now.”

Juno pushes past a woman with a particularly large pink bouffant and drags Peter along behind him, ignoring her shriek as her drink spills down her dress.. He dodges behind a pillar, pushing Peter back against it and positioning himself in front. He can hear Peter’s heart pounding from the chase and has to fight to calm his own breaths.

There is another wave of screams as guards burst through the door after them. He hears shouting as one of them tries to corral the guests and get them calmed down, trying to prevent a stampede. Somehow it seems to work, and Juno pushes farther back against Peter, trying not to think about how closely pressed together they are.

“Rita!” he hisses into his comms, “We could really use some help out here!”

“Gotcha covered, Boss.”

Juno breathes a sigh of relief at the sound of Rita’s voice. 

“I’ve got eyes on all the cameras now, Boss, and it looks like they’re shuttin’ everything down pretty quickly. If you go out that door behind the lady with a dress like a dolphin it’ll getcha into a service hallway that they ain’t got around to guardin’ yet. You gotta hurry though, I don’t think it’ll stay that way for long!”

“Thanks Rita. Remind me to buy you some more snacks when we get out of here.” Juno peers around the edge of the pillar and sees about fifteen people in guard uniforms starting to fan out and look for them. He leans back in and pitches his voice low so only Peter can hear him.

“Okay, new plan. I don’t know if you were listening, but Rita-”

“I heard,” Peter cuts him off in an oddly strained voice, and Juno looks at him sharply before going on.

“Right. Anyway, I don’t think they got proper eyes on us back in that dark hallway, so our best bet will be to make our way subtly across the dance floor. No more shouldering our way through the crowd unless we want to draw the eyes of every guard in the room.”

“Agreed.”

Juno watched Peter take a breath and straighten, then smile and offer Juno his hand.

“May I have this dance, my lady?”

Juno takes it with a half grin. It’s always offputting, watching Peter settle into a new persona like a second skin. He does it with what Juno knows is the ease of practice, but everytime he does, Juno wonders if the Peter he knew before will ever come back. He shakes that thought away and lets Peter draw him into a dance as the music starts back up again.

They make their way across the dancefloor as quickly as they can, Peter leading and weaving them skillfully through the other dancers. Rita keeps up a whispered commentary the whole time, keeping them updated on the positions of the guards as they sweep through the crowd of guests. Finally they make it to the door Rita had pointed out and, with a last glance around, they slip through the door.

As soon as they’re through, Peter lets go of Juno and steps away quickly, smoothing his hands on his pants in a nervous gesture that Juno hadn’t seen before, but before he can ask Peter about it, Buddy cuts in again.

“You’ve also made it, darlings, but you’re not out of the woods yet. This hallway leads to the loading bay they use for the kitchen. Jet will be waiting for you there with the Ruby 7, but hurry.”

Juno and Peter share a glance and then start running down the hallway. Rita cuts in with directions every time the reach a fork, but the comms stay quiet for the most part. Finally they get to the loading bay, a wide open area mostly full of boxes. Whatever staff was usually on duty had disappeared, so it is just Juno and Peter. 

“Jet?” Juno calls over the comms, “We’re here, so any time you want to show up would be peachy.”

Jet’s terse voice answers immediately.

“I will be there very shortly, Juno, do not worry. Traffic has been poor.”

“What? To hell with traffic, we need-”

Jet hangs up, and Juno swears under his breath.

“Hey Ransom, you see anything? Looks like we’re stuck here for a few more minutes while our ride shows up and I’d hate to get sur-”

The door on the far side of the room bursts open before he can finish his thought, and at least three guards pour through. Juno can tell they’re armed by the blaster bolts that whip over his head as he dives into Peter, knocking him out of the way and behind one of the many crates. Juno can also tell that they aren’t set to stun by the flash of pain in his left arm as one of those blaster bolts gets close enough to graze him. Badly.

“Juno, you’re bleeding!”

“I’m alright Ransom, it’s just a graze,” Juno says, shrugging off Peter’s worry, “‘Ey Siquliak, you better get here quickly, company’s arrived!”

“I am already here.”

The dull roar of the Ruby 7’s engine fills the warehouse as Jet coasts in. Judging by the shouts of surprise, the guards weren’t expecting visitors either. 

“Go!” Juno shouts to be heard over the noise, “I’ll cover you!”

“Absolutely not!” Peter yells back, “You can barely stand, I’m not letting you cover me while I run!”

“Goddamnit Ransom, just-”

Juno is cut off as another blaster shot hits the crate they’re hiding behind.

“Alright fine!”

Juno accepts Peter’s hand and lets himself be lifted to his feet. Dodging blaster fire as they go, they sprint the last few yards to the waiting car. The Ruby 7’s doors pop open and they hurl themselves inside. Jet peels away as soon as they hit the backseat, the doors closing automatically.

“Lucky timing,” Juno says, panting.

“It was not luck,” Jet replies, deadpan as always, “Try not to bleed on the upholstery. It is new.”

“Yeah, that’s my biggest worry about all this...blood…that’s coming out of me.”

Juno can feel himself getting dizzy. 

“Juno!”

The last thing he sees before his vision goes black is Peter’s worried face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aha! You thought I was going to hurt Peter last chapter, but it turns out it was going to be Juno who got hurt all along! He's okay, I promise, just got a nasty graze and fainted from seeing that much blood (and also the blood loss. the blood loss definitely didn't help). I know I said things would get resolved this chapter, but I accidentally lied. _Next_ chapter though, that one they will have a talk.
> 
> As always, I am [marbledopalescence](https://marbledopalescence.tumblr.com/) on tumblr if you want to stop by!


	4. "I want you. Only you."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juno and Peter talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me at the start of this fic: Ah yes, I will wrap it up in two short parts!  
Me, four chapters and 5,000 words later: Well.
> 
> Anyway, here is the chapter where they finally get their shit together and talk!! I hope you like it <3

It is a hard ride back to the Carte Blanche in the Ruby 7. Peter clutches the unconscious Juno in his arms the whole way, only letting go when Jet pries his hands away in order to carry Juno to the medbay. Vespa snarls at him when he tries to follow them inside, so instead he waits.

It has been a long night. 

Buddy comes and coaxes him to go and get cleaned up, change out of his bloody clothes. Peter does, and immediately comes back to wait for Juno. Eventually the door opens and Vespa walks out, almost tripping over Peter. She swears at him, but tells him he can go in and sit quietly.

“Quietly,” she repeats, “Do you understand? Steel will be fine, but he needs rest. I gave him something to make him sleep for a while, but if you two start going at it when he wakes up, I _will_ kick you out.”

Peter nods mutely, and she begrudgingly lets him in. With a final glare, she leaves him alone with Juno.

~~

Peter sits with his head in his hands by the side of the bed. Juno is tucked under the clean white sheets, still unconscious from whatever anaesthetic that Vespa had used while stitching up his arm. He replays that moment in his head over and over again. The blaster bolt had been headed for him, would have _hit_ him if Juno hadn’t acted. So Juno had saved him. Twice in one night. Peter doesn’t know what he could have done to deserve this from the former detective.

With everything he has said and done over the past few months, it should have driven Juno away, and yet here he is. Hurt again, saving Peter’s life again.

Juno shifts, groaning faintly, and Peter sits bolt upright. He's about to call for Vespa when Juno opens his eye and looks around, trying to assess his surroundings. He focuses on Peter and blinks.

"Nur-Ransom? What're you doing here?”

“I…”

Peter’s heart is in his throat and it’s making it hard for him to breathe. He coughs and clears his throat, hastily arranging his face into a semblance of control again.

“I wanted to make sure you were alright, Juno. After all, you did get hurt because of me.”

“It’s nothing, I- Yeah. About that, Nu-_Ransom_, what the hell were you thinking going off on your own like that?”

Juno’s voice is sharp and accusatory and Peter has to look away. He can feel himself flushing against his will, shame and annoyance breaking what hold he usually has on his emotions.

“The mark was getting away. I didn’t want to lose him and jeopardize the mission.”

“Bullshit. You going rogue like that ended up jeopardizing the mission anyway. Normally you’re more careful than that, what’s going on?”

Peter laughs hollowly and stands up, unable to contain himself sitting down any longer. 

“I appreciate the concern, Juno, but you don’t need to pretend to care for my sake.”

The words came out harsher than he expected, biting like asps past his lips. He pretends he doesn’t see the hurt look in Juno’s eye. Juno looks away, tired and exasperated, and Peter’s heart aches.

“Ransom, what the hell do you want.”

“You,” Peter breathes, “I want you. Only you.”

And Juno stills. 

“You’ve got a funny way of showing it,” Juno says, carefully not looking at Peter.

“Yes, I- I apologise, Juno, I haven’t been at my best and-”

“Yeah.”

Juno exhales shakily and starts talking again before Peter can collect himself enough to speak.

“Nureyev,” and oh how Peter aches when he hears Juno say that name again, “I’m the one who needs to apologise. I wasn’t in a good place then, and I- I felt like, if I was going to mess things up, if I was going to hurt you, it would be better to end things before they began instead of watching them slowly die. I don’t think I would have made it if I had to watch you slowly drift away from me,” Juno says with a bitter laugh. “Hell, I barely made it as is! It’s been a rough year, Nureyev, but. I got better, I _am_ better.” Juno looks up at Peter now, and Peter feels trapped by the amount of emotion in his gaze. “And I’m so, _so_ sorry that I hurt you, that I left, but trust me. That was the better option.” 

Peter swallows hard.

“Waking up alone the next morning...it felt like a cementation of all of my fears. I thought you had looked in my head and decided that Peter Nureyev wasn’t worth staying for, so I- I locked him away. Peter Nureyev as good as died that day-” Juno flinches at that, “-and I thought that was it for good. I moved on, away from Mars as far and as fast as I could. I didn’t let myself think about you for a long time, Juno, because every time I did, I felt like I was going to shatter all over again and this time there would be no putting me back together.”

But something came up. I needed a job, so I- Well. There aren’t many people who could vouch for a thief without a name, but there you were… I didn’t think that you would end up leaving Mars after all, and what’s more, leaving as a part of the same crew as me.”

Peter laughs softly, but it’s not a happy sound.

“If I’d known you would be joining the team, I don’t know if I would have come at all. That’s why I’ve been avoiding you. Every time I looked at you, I saw echoes of the past, and every time you tried to apologise, to make it up to me, well. It was like salt in a wound. It was better for me to pretend that nothing had ever happened, rather than try and fix the past. I thought I wanted nothing more than to move on, but I was just refusing to let go.”

“Peter.”

That one word, his _name_, carries so much weight with it that Peter has to stop, his throat tight and tears pricking at his eyes.

“Juno, I’m _sorry_,” Peter whispers, and Juno smiles sadly. He pats the bed next to him, and Peter breaks, climbing on, careful not to jostle Juno’s bandaged arm. The bed really isn’t big enough for both of them, but Peter curls in and Juno wraps his good arm around him.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t stay,” Juno says softly, “I’m sorry I couldn’t be what you deserved.”

“I’m sorry I made you feel like you had no choice,” Peter whispers back, “I’m sorry I ignored you when you were trying to apologise.”

“What a pair of fools we make,” Juno says, and Peter hears a smile in his voice.

“A pair of fools indeed.”

~~

Vespa comes in at some point and growls at Peter but doesn’t kick him out, just checks Juno’s bandages. Satisfied with what she sees, she allows him to leave the medbay, provided he rest. Juno salutes her with his good arm and she grunts.

Peter walks with Juno back to his room, neither of them saying anything. When they reach Juno’s door, Peter pauses, uncertain of what to do. Juno looks at him oddly, then cracks a smile.

“Are you going to come in, Peter, or are you going to leave a lady at his door?”

Peter flushes and he feels himself smiling without meaning to.

“If a lady invites me in, how can I tell him no?”

Juno laughs then, Peter’s heart swelling at the sound, and reaches up to grab Peter’s shirt, pulling him down into a kiss. Peter wraps his arms around Juno, pulling him in closer and kicking the door shut behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All through the confrontation I imagine Vespa being very ready to barge back in there and kick Peter out because he's "agitating my PATIENT, Buddy, I gave him clear instructions not to-" and Buddy's just holding her back because she knows these two need to get their shit together and they're finally talking.  
But anyway! They finally talked! Hooray!! <s>It only took me about five thousand words to get here.....</s>  
As always, I am [marbledopalescence](https://marbledopalescence.tumblr.com/) on tumblr if you want to swing by and say hello!  
(There will be one more part after this and I should get it up by tomorrow, so stay tuned)


	5. Morning.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A soft epilogue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY. THE PROMISED FLUFF. This took so much longer to get to than I originally thought, but I did it! I hope you enjoy it <3

Peter wakes up, and this time he isn’t alone. Juno is laying next to him, the lady half curled into him. Their legs are tangled together under the sheets, and somehow in the night they ended up curled into mirrored shapes, each curving in towards the other as if they couldn’t stay away. He stays a moment, watching Juno breathe, entranced by the thick eyelashes that brush his cheeks, the soft curve of his lips… Peter's heart is leaping in his chest. This gets to be his life now. He can wake up to this, every morning, for as long as both of them want it. (Peter wants it forever) (He hopes Juno does too)

Juno shifts, stretching slightly as he wakes up. He blinks his eye open, smiling sleepily when he sees Peter. Peter heart skips. That soft smile is like the sun, lighting up Juno’s face and making Peter warm.

“G’morning,” Juno says, his voice still heavy from sleep.

“Good morning, love,” Peter says, and Juno grins wider. Juno reaches up and touches Peter’s face softly. Peter turns into the touch, kissing Juno’s palm, then shifting himself so he’s leaning over Juno. Juno rolls over onto his back so Peter is directly over him. They stay like that for a minute, Peter breathless in the face of Juno's stare. Then Juno beams and wraps his arms around Peter's neck, pulling him down for a kiss, and Peter melts into it.

They will be expected by the rest of the family eventually, but for now it's just them. The future stretches out in front of them and Peter isn't sure how long this will last, but he knows he has this for now, and he intends to make every moment count.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, it's done! It's much shorter than the other chapters, and I don't know why this last bit took me so much longer to write, but it is _very_ soft. (I almost melted while writing it!) Thank you to everyone who commented along the way, each one really made my day <3
> 
> As always, I am [marbledopalescence](https://marbledopalescence.tumblr.com/) on tumblr if you want to drop by and say hi!

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos/comments are much appreciated! I'm [marbledopalescence](https://marbledopalescence.tumblr.com/) on tumblr too, if you want to swing by!


End file.
